Re: Tubemeister 18
I have the Tubemeister 18 combo, the 12" version.
I agree completely with Little Pigbacon's comments. It's not really like other amps. The closest comparisons I can make are that the clean channel is sort of Vox-like (can get chimey), and the dirt channel is sort of like a hi-fi Marshall, with an upper midrange emphasis. I find myself dialing in the same EQ as on Marshall DSLs - treble = 0, mids and bass dimed.
Tubemeisters are sometimes described as hi-fi, and I'd agree. I don't think it's a weakness. And in this case hi-fi does *not* equal "sterile". It's a very intense and pure tone, maybe a higher quality version of what the Blackstar HT amps do. To me, the perfect application would be jazz fusion. By itself without boost, gain-wise, the amp only goes up to up about classic metal or maybe thrash. The boost gets you into death metal territory, but the Tubemeister doesn't do that particularly well, IMO. The extreme high gain feels messy and uncontrolled. For extreme high gain, I would much prefer a 5150/6505-type amp.
The 1 watt setting is really loud but usable for bedroom. It's louder than the 1 watt setting on my Peavey 6505 MH.
The boost is a fixed gain boost, which is my least favorite kind of boost. You can't control it; turn it on, and suddenly you have monster gain. I prefer clean boosts that I can adjust, so the boost is useless to me.
The Tubemeister feature set is best-in-market alongside the Peavey MH series. Both give you attenuation down to 1 watt and high-quality direct recording capabilities.
I didn't bond with my Tubemeister because I prefer darker amps, so I will move it along. But it is a really good amp. OP might want to try pairing the head version with various cabs. I played a Tubemeister 5 through an Orange cab, and it sounded godlike (with an off-the-shelf Squier Strat). I think the Orange cab complemented the Tubemeister by reining in some highs and adding lows.